Michael Laughing, the Mohawk activist from Akwesasne who came to personify native protest during the first months of the Caledonia land dispute, has been charged with drug smuggling in the United States.
Laughing, 41, and three other Akwesasne men were arrested by U.S. federal agents in simultaneous dawn raids Thursday morning.
All of the arrests were made in and around Laughing's hometown of Hogansburg, N.Y., on the U.S. side of Akwesasne, the Mohawk reserve near Cornwall that straddles the U.S.-Canada and Ontario-Quebec borders .
The raids followed a two-year investigation involving the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, state police, local narcotics investigators, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Unit and the U.S. Border Patrol.
The Border Patrol's involvement is significant because one of their vehicles was involved in a highly publicized incident in Caledonia June 9. Native demonstrators at the Douglas Creek Estates site took the vehicle from OPP, Border Patrol and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives staff. At the time, the ATF said its agent was in Caledonia on "an intelligence sharing mission."
In the raids last week, agents seized more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of marijuana they allege was to be distributed through New England.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says all four men are charged with possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute and importation of marijuana. If convicted on all charges, the quartet could face sentences of five to 40 years in jail.
The United States Attorney's Office for the district is also seeking forfeiture of $1 million in assets taken from the men during the raids.
Laughing spent several months at the blockaded Caledonia subdivision site last spring. He struck stark poses for cameras during April and May, standing defiantly atop a dump truck across Argyle Street at one time.
Laughing remains in custody.